Thanks to Keith Thomas (kthomas@lvcablemodem.com) for letting me post this personal information about his missionary experiences in Guatemala and with Arturo Mijangos. They certainly are beautiful ones. If any of Presidente Mijangos' missionaries would like to get in contact with Keith, he has told me that he would love to hear from them.

Arturo Mijangos called this evening and we spoke for about a half an hour. He and his wife (Sonia Soto) have been called to serve as mission president in the Mexico Veracruz Mission. He will be in the MTC in Provo, Utah, until Monday when he will return to Guatemala for 2 days to collect his family and then travel on to Mexico.

I baptized Arturo, who was then 17, on December 1, 1967. He lived in Zona 5. Not long thereafter, he met and began to court his future wife Sonia who lived in Zona 15. She is the daughter of Humberto Soto (who used to always drive a Volkswagon van) and is the sister of Eric. She received a scholarship to BYU and while she was in Provo, Arturo went on a mission to El Salvador (she had told him that she wanted to marry a returned missionary.)

They have five children, ages 18, 16, 14, 12, and 7. The oldest will be putting in his papers in October or November for his mission.

Arturo went to the university after his mission and became an accountant, eventually working for the Church locating and buying real estate for chapels, etc.

He has been a branch president (rama 5), bishop (Vista Hermosa Ward, I believe he said), counselor to a stake president, and counselor to two mission presidents (Frischnecht and Romney).

He told me that they lived not far from the temple. He said there are 14 stakes and 4 missions now in Guatemala. He said that his whole family eventually was baptized including his "mama y dos hijas, y primo y dos hijos". About a month before we baptized Arturo we had baptized his uncle Julio. Arturo said that the uncle's son is now preparing to leave on a mission.

He said he would send me a letter with his new address.

Excerpt from my letter to my son in Australia Sydney North Mission. Letter sent before phone call from Arturo.

"Congratulations on Ashley's baptism. Her mother's story was fascinating. I'm sure it could be true. A similar thing happened to me in Guatemala. My companion and I were tracting one day in a relatively poor neighborhood and came to a very nice home behind a picket fence with a small yard, and a small garage with a car (in this neighborhood of dirt floored houses, such a house was considered "rich"). Nobody was home so we went on our way. Later, we had the strongest impression that we should return to the picket fence house. We knocked on the door and were immediately invited in by a middle aged lady. We were escorted into the living room where her husband was sitting. Another man was in the room also (he turned out to be their chauffeur.) They seemed to be waiting for us. After about 30 minutes of conversation, the lady said that she had been expecting us. She said that a few evenings earlier she had dreamed a very peculiar dream. She said that the dream was of two candles that had just started burning. She said that she didn't know what it meant until she saw us and then she knew that the dream either referred to two young missionaries or to her and her husband (their name was Willemsen) just starting to learn about the gospel. They were ready for baptism after about the second discussion. The only problem was that they weren't married and he wasn't yet divorced from his first wife - a not uncommon situation in Guatemala where it was expensive to get divorced. In any event, they did finally get baptized some time after I had been transferred to another area." ...

"I had an interesting phone call today. The phone rang and Sherrie answered it and then handed me the phone. The lady on the other end said "Hello. My name is Mary and I am calling from the Church Missionary Department." Now, remember I had just read your letter about the root beer, the illegal phone calls, and the steel belted radial shoes. She went on, however, to say "I have an unusual question to ask. A man was just in here that you baptized and he wants to get in touch with you and with your companion. His name is Mijangos and he is going to the MTC before going to the Mexico Veracruz mission as a mission president. Is it alright if I give him your number and do you know the number of your companion?" I told her I would be thrilled to give such permission and also gave her the full name and original address of my then companion (a John Lawrence Davis from Richfield, Utah.) I told her I was leaving on Thursday and she gave me the number of the MTC and said to go ahead and call him there since he probably wouldn't get her message until about Wednesday. I called the MTC and left a message but haven't heard >from him as of yet. His name is Arturo Mijangos. Do you remember the little wooden box that has sat on my desk all these years (and which now sits on the credenza behind me as I write this letter)? It was given to me by Arturo when I left the mission. We had baptized his uncle, Julio Rene Valle Vallejo, first and then baptized Arturo a few weeks later on December 1, 1967. Arturo was then 17. I checked my diary and found numerous references to Arturo and Reno and Fernando (cousin?) during the last few months of my mission. We had become good friends. I must have been impressed by Arturo because in my diary for December 1, 1967 I wrote "Baptized Arturo tonight. Good guy. We were reviewing him and in his prayer he said, 'Thank you for the privilege of being baptized tonight which will give me the opportunity to be a member of the true church and I hope my brothers will all become members also.'" I don't remember recording the words of anyone else's prayer like that."

Stories by and or about President Mijangos

Veracruz Presidents Alumni History